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The Euahlayi Tribe; A study of Aboriginal life in Australia
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101 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1905
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About the author
Katie Langloh Parker
27 books2 followersKatie Langloh Parker lived in the Australian outback most of her life, close to the Eulayhi people. She was rescued from drowning by an aborigine when very young, this incident has survived in modern memory and been depicted in the film
Picnic at Hanging Rock
.
Catherine (Katie) Langloh Parker (1 May 1856 - 27 March 1940) was a writer who lived in Northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century.
She is best known for recording the stories of the Aboriginal people around her. As their culture was in decline, because of pressure by European settlers, her testimony is one of the best accounts we have of the beliefs and stories of the Aboriginal people of North-West New South Wales at that time. However, her accounts reflect European prejudices of the time, and so to modern ears her accounts contain a number of misconceptions and racist comments. Their value is illustrated by her recording of an account of Baiame dating from around 1830, which is the earliest known reference to Baiame, casting doubt on the assertion that it was a construct of European missionaries.
She was born Catherine Eliza Somerville Field on board the 'Luilyl', in Encounter Bay, in South Australia, daughter of Henry Field, pastoralist, and his wife Sophia, daughter of Rev. Ridgway Newland. She grew up on her father's property at Marra Station in Northern New South Wales. In 1875, at the age of 18, she married her first husband, Langloh Parker, and moved to his property, Bangate Station, near Angledool, New South Wales where she collected most of the Yularoi, or Euahlayi, stories which were to make her famous. After Langloh died in Sydney in 1903, she met and married Percival Randolph Stow, the son of Randolph Stow, in London, and lived with him in Adelaide until her death in 1940.
Catherine (Katie) Langloh Parker (1 May 1856 - 27 March 1940) was a writer who lived in Northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century.
She is best known for recording the stories of the Aboriginal people around her. As their culture was in decline, because of pressure by European settlers, her testimony is one of the best accounts we have of the beliefs and stories of the Aboriginal people of North-West New South Wales at that time. However, her accounts reflect European prejudices of the time, and so to modern ears her accounts contain a number of misconceptions and racist comments. Their value is illustrated by her recording of an account of Baiame dating from around 1830, which is the earliest known reference to Baiame, casting doubt on the assertion that it was a construct of European missionaries.
She was born Catherine Eliza Somerville Field on board the 'Luilyl', in Encounter Bay, in South Australia, daughter of Henry Field, pastoralist, and his wife Sophia, daughter of Rev. Ridgway Newland. She grew up on her father's property at Marra Station in Northern New South Wales. In 1875, at the age of 18, she married her first husband, Langloh Parker, and moved to his property, Bangate Station, near Angledool, New South Wales where she collected most of the Yularoi, or Euahlayi, stories which were to make her famous. After Langloh died in Sydney in 1903, she met and married Percival Randolph Stow, the son of Randolph Stow, in London, and lived with him in Adelaide until her death in 1940.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 26, 2022
A mixed bag of anthropology and racism. Parker, a white female author lived among the Euahlayi tribal clan in her district in New South Wales many years late in the 19th century/early 20th. At one point early in the book, she speaks of taking small girls from their “camp” into her own home “to domesticate them.” White savior complex right off the bat.
In some chapters, her racism is so overt it gets grating. It’s never just men or people but “the black fella” or “blacks.” Sexism too, though she is a woman frequently uses “gin” for “black women”, which is what, a diminutive, demeaning word meaning the person has a vagina? Doubtful she’d ever use the term for a white woman.
Parker throws in observations that today are hard to evaluate and maybe she meant them humorously, but in trying to be an academic tract at the time, comes off a bit contemptuous: To eat dog is dangerous for a woman, as causing increased birth-pangs; that suggests dog must be rather good eating, some epicure wirreenun scaring women off it by making that assertion. In a chapter on (adult) amusements, she opines that “most of their games are childish.” What, as if most “games” or pastimes in any other culture are “serious” and not fun?
There are some interesting passages and you do get a feel for an indigenous culture whose way of life might be long gone. She speaks of the voices and language: …when high pitched in quarrels, their voices lose their natural tones, as a rule those of the blacks are remarkably sweet and soft, quite musical; their language noticeable for its freedom from harsh sounds.
And then near the end is a lovely little gem:
… bush nights are lovely, when the landscapes are glorified by the magic of the moon. Even the gum leaves are transmuted into silver as the moonlight laves them, making the blacks say the leaves laugh, and the shimmer is like a smile.
2 1/2 Stars.
In some chapters, her racism is so overt it gets grating. It’s never just men or people but “the black fella” or “blacks.” Sexism too, though she is a woman frequently uses “gin” for “black women”, which is what, a diminutive, demeaning word meaning the person has a vagina? Doubtful she’d ever use the term for a white woman.
Parker throws in observations that today are hard to evaluate and maybe she meant them humorously, but in trying to be an academic tract at the time, comes off a bit contemptuous: To eat dog is dangerous for a woman, as causing increased birth-pangs; that suggests dog must be rather good eating, some epicure wirreenun scaring women off it by making that assertion. In a chapter on (adult) amusements, she opines that “most of their games are childish.” What, as if most “games” or pastimes in any other culture are “serious” and not fun?
There are some interesting passages and you do get a feel for an indigenous culture whose way of life might be long gone. She speaks of the voices and language: …when high pitched in quarrels, their voices lose their natural tones, as a rule those of the blacks are remarkably sweet and soft, quite musical; their language noticeable for its freedom from harsh sounds.
And then near the end is a lovely little gem:
… bush nights are lovely, when the landscapes are glorified by the magic of the moon. Even the gum leaves are transmuted into silver as the moonlight laves them, making the blacks say the leaves laugh, and the shimmer is like a smile.
2 1/2 Stars.
September 10, 2018
Full of honesty, it really is full of honesty. Blackies, Dark-but-Comelys', but never apes, never animals. Some of the customs are horrid, some are humorous. Very anthropological, I was surprised at how much was left open to judgement. Some curious contrasts exist between this book & 'The Life & Adventures of William Buckley'. Totem, phratry and such are gone through with a fine-tooth comb in the early pages, much to the credit of Ms. Parker. She is rightfully dismissive of critiques from people who don't know & never visited the sunburnt country, dismissive of the type of person who verbatim counter-accuses their own rap-sheet.
January 20, 2020
Didn’t find it very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews